The snow-colored boy walked silently in the falling winter substances, barely looking at where he was going. His mind was racing, and after awhile, it had wandered to his old rival, now dead and buried. He was just a rival, right? There was no real reason for this boy to be walking around, his safety a piece of information that he, for once, was paying no attention. Shouldn't he have been more worried about the Kira investigation?

But no, he was focused on the boy, who he dared call friend in the blonde's absence. His mind wandered towards the way that he would always get so hot-headed over the simplest of things, the way he would always yell at this supposedly 'emotionless' boy, as he would put it. He remembered just how hard it was to watch not only his idol die, but to have the only person he was even slightly comfortable around leave him all at once. He looked up from where a small ant was running across the pathway layed out in front of him, and he noticed exactly where his feet had lead him:

The grave of the very boy he was thinking about.

It wasn't a real grave, there was no body to make a proper grave, more of a little tribute to his life and death. It was quite depressing-looking, with dead flowers and a spray painted headstone, but it reminded Near of exactly how Mello was, with morose beauty and a fiery, wild personality. The boy felt a pang in his heart, knowing that he had never learned his rival's true name. The protocol at the orphanage in which they spent most of their youth had just allowed people to stay, giving them fake names immediately so that if anyone hacked into their computer system, which was nearly impossible, none of the students would be put into danger, left astray by someone's knowledge of their real names. Near wasn't exactly sure why this annoyed him so, yet it did now plague his mind like a bullet in his system. It wouldn't go away, so the boy thought for awhile as to why he would be so annoyed.

'I wanted him to know MY name as well! That would explain why I am so anguished by Mello's fate, as well as my own annoyance! Though, why would I want Mello to know my real name?...' Near wondered, finding himself kneeling at his old rival's grave. He recited a small prayer, though he doubted that it would do any good. He, personally, didn't truly believe that there was a God, yet he remembered Mello praying every night before he would go to sleep at Whammy House. He pulled a small package from his pocket, remembering how Linder had given him a small box of chocolate's after Mello's death, hoping to cheer him up. Near didn't like chocolate.

"Here you go, Mello. I hope that you can see me end the Kira investigation, all because of your generosity. You gave your life for the case, and I will make sure to catch Yagami in your honor. If you didn't do what you did, then I would never have been able to get proof against Yagami. Thank you, so very much." Near said, looking towards the sky afterwards, the snow melting on his skin and white clothes.

After just looking at the monument for awhile, Near realized something.

"You, you weren't just a rival to me. You were my friend. I hope that wherever you are, you can understand this. I trusted you, thus I allowed you to hate me. I wanted a reason as to never have an emotional connection with someone, as to prevent this grieving. You were the closest person to me, even closer than my team, though I spent more time talking with them than I did with you. We would always bicker, ne? It was entertaining for awhile, than it starting to hurt in my chest whenever you would yell at me, or tell me that you hated me. I don't know why, but I want to know everything about you that I have never known. I know that time has passed me by, but I would like you to at least know my name, if I can't learn yours. My name is Nate Rivers." Near said, than shaking his head in annoyance.

'It's not as though he can hear me...' Near thought, returning to his home, for it was well past sundown.

"Near, is that true?" Near heard a voice speaking to him, and his eyes fluttered open.

"M-Mello? How did you..." Near stuttered, watching as his old rival, his only friend, walking towards him.

"Nate Rivers, right? Well, Nate, did you mean what you said back at my memorial?" Mello asked, standing next to Near's bed.

"Well, yes, but I don't know how that compares to you being alive." Near said, sitting up. Mello winced at the word 'alive', stepping back.

"I'm not alive, Nate. I just wanted to visit you badly after watching you, and God said that, for tonight, I could visit you." Mello said, sitting down on the bed after Near made room, sitting in his normal position on his bed, leaning on the headboard.

"So, how long can you stay?" Near asked, knowing that it couldn't be for very long.

"Only a few minutes, but long enough to set you know my name, eh? You want to know, isn't that right?" Mello, asked, Near noticing the way Mello seemed calmer, happier even, than when he last saw him.

"You are correct. But, I also want to know why you seem so blissful." Near said, now truly interested. Mello chuckled lightly, Near feeling his stomach twist slightly as he saw, for one of the first times in his entire lifetime, a smile on his ex-rival's face. Near's face heated slightly, though he couldn't explain why it was his face was turning red.

"Well, Nate, my name's really Mihael Keehl." Mello said, and Near repeated his name again.

"Mihael Keehl. I think that I like the sound of that name." Near said, and Mello laughed again, yet he looked upward abruptly, and nodded.

"I gotta go, Near- wait, Nate. But, I will answer your other question." Mello said, leaning over his old rival, the true successor of the L name.

"Go on..." Near said, breathlessly.

"It's because I've always wanted you to say that." Mello explained, kissing Near's forehead, than seeming to evaporate. Near felt his forehead, still feeling the heat from the boy who was now gone for good.

"Mihael Keehl, I will make sure to avenge your death." Near proclaimed, almost excited for the day in which he and Yagami would meet, and Yagami would be put away. It was all so exhilarating!